


of snakes and statues

by SnorkleShit



Series: librarians ficlets and drabbles [12]
Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: AU, Almost Public Sex, Angst, Canon Divergent, Disassociation, Ezekiel is probably into exhibitionism?, F/F, Gaurdian!Lamia, Grief, Hurt/Comfort, Lamia is Alive, M/M, Oneshot, but nothing actually happens, camia, cassamia, mentions of the Loom of Fate, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 02:04:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8826010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnorkleShit/pseuds/SnorkleShit
Summary: After Eve and Flynn get trapped in the past, Lamia shows up at the Library with a white envelope. detectiveangievega requested camia + "No one has a heart of stone."





	

**Author's Note:**

> This went in a weird direction? And is way longer than a drabble? And I threw in some jazekiel just because it felt right, idk?

Lamia’s body had disappeared after they got the Library back. Nothing but sheets and blood on the Annex floor, and a bloody handprint on the edge of the door. 

 

“She must have survived.” Eve said, squinting at the doorway. 

“Do you think she’ll survive much longer? Where’s the nearest hospital?” Cassandra asked, face twisted in worry. 

 

“I have a feeling she’s not going to a hospital, mate. She’ll probably live, she’s a snake. I know her kind. I doubt we’ll ever see her again.” Ezekiel said dismissively. 

 

“Good riddance.” Flynn muttered. But Eve’s eyes turned to Cassandra, who was staring at the blood on the floor with a lost expression. Eve’s memory flashed to the alternate version of Cassandra. The relationship between her and Lamia...who had been a _Gaurdian._

 

Eve’s expression softened, and she reached to rest a hand on Cassandra’s shoulder. Cassandra looked over at her, and found understanding in her eyes. 

 

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Eve whispered. Cassandra nodded, and they turned back to the others. 

\---------

It had been a week since they lost Eve and Flynn in the past. Jake was hard at work with Jenkins on restoring and improving the Library, Ezekiel was...god knows where. Ambling around like he didn’t have a care in the world. Cassandra knew better, though. She just didn’t have the energy to call him out on it. Not that she would, right now...they all had their coping mechanisms.

As for Cassandra? Well, frankly, she didn’t even have much room to talk. She wasn’t trying whatsoever to maintain a sense of normalcy. She hadn’t left her spot in the corner of the reading room all week. The Library - or more likely Ezekiel - had moved a ring of recliners and bean bags into the corner. Losing herself in theories and higher math for days, numbers and symbols floating off the pages and forming a cloud around her head. A cloud that soon grew so thick, it drowned out everything else. 

Whenever one of the boys - she was never sure which one - came by to check on her, they could never get through. It was like she couldn’t even hear them through all the white noise in her mind. She just kept turning pages, like nothing except the book in her lap existed. 

“She’ll come back eventually, mate.” Ezekiel told Jake one day, while they both stood in the doorway of the reading room, watching her. “She just needs to sort out what’s on the inside yet, and she’s gotta take a little vacay for that.” 

“She’s not just in her happy place or whatever Jones, she’s completely zoned out!” Jake snapped, bags under his eyes and worry edging his voice. Ezekiel sighed. His own internal trouble and exhaustion would never have show this much. These people were just so exhausting sometimes. Why couldn’t they shove it all down like he did? And they called _him_ the stupid one…

“Well, either way, none of us are going to pull her out, that’s for sure. So just accept it.” Ezekiel said more harshly, before he walked away. Jake remained, leaning against the door frame. He had never been one to accept that he couldn’t help the people he cared about. Cassandra was like the little sister he had never had. He could barely stand how far away she was. 

But no matter what he did, Jones was right. 

\--------------------

A gritty mixture of metal music and party noise wafted up through the building from the bar downstairs. The apartment was tiny, and bare, and the walls were moldier than the food in the fridge. 

But none of that mattered, because there was a white envelope sitting on her cracked and dirty floor. She stared down at it, frozen in the doorway, all too familiar with what this meant. How could this be? _Her_ , of all people? Why her? Why now?

Lamia leaned down and picked up the envelope with shaky hands. Strange. Her hands hadn’t shook in years. 

She let her purse drop to the floor as she kicked her door closed behind her, then slowly slide down it, holding the white envelope in front of her. She glared at it, too afraid to open it, but too fascinated to let it go. This had to be a mistake. 

_Something must have happened to the current Guardian. To Eve. They are vulnerable._ Her mind whispered. She furrowed her brow. How did she feel about that? After what had happened at the Library...with Dulaque...she didn’t know anything. Not anymore. She used to be so sure…

_Santa knows that you want to help people, deep down._

Perhaps redemption was not such a fool’s dream as she had once believed. Whatever her decision, she had to make it now. If the Library needed a Guardian, it needed one immediately. She was either in, or she was out. 

\---------------

“It’s fine, nobody’s here! Jenkins is out collecting ingredients for an experiment and Cassandra’s, well, you know…” Ezekiel insisted, pressing closer to Jake, wiggling his eyebrows and grinning. Jake hesitated, resisting the urge to yank Ezekiel even closer. He was pressed up against the table in the Annex, while Ezekiel’s hands ghosted over his belt buckle. He swallowed, glancing towards the doors.

“Out in the open? What the hell is wrong with you, Jones? We work here! This place might as well be sacred!” Jake whisper yelled. Ezekiel grinned, undoing the buckle and then heading for the button.

“That’s what makes it _fun!_ C’mon, you’ve been working so hard, consider this a reward.” Ezekiel said slyly, biting his lip. That was the last straw. 

“You’re gonna be the death of me.” Jake grumbled. As he pulled Ezekiel into a kiss, Ezekiel hummed in excitement and finally slipped his hand down the other man’s pants.

“Well, i’ll be damned. And here I thought you guys where a stuffy crowd. Maybe this is the right place for me!” A familiar voice called from the doorway. They both nearly shot out of their skin, jumping apart like they’d been burned. Jake nearly fell over in his panic to zip up his jeans, and Ezekiel whipped a pistol out from under his jacket and pointed it at the newcomer. 

“What the _hell_ are you doing, coming around here, Lamia?” Ezekiel exclaimed. Lamia smirked, eyes sparkling in amusement. 

“I was about to ask you the same thing!” She exclaimed. Jake stared at her, before he turned to squint in confusion at Ezekiel.

“Woah, since when do you carry?” Jake exclaimed, more shocked by the gun than the girl. 

“Oh, I don’t know mate, ever since our Guardian got trapped hundreds of years in the past?” Ezekiel said it as if it was the stupidest question in the world. 

“Eve is gone?” Lamia asked, her smile falling away into a more serious expression.

“Don’t think that means we’re vulnerable!” Ezekiel said firmly. Lamia held up both her hands in surrender. 

“That is _not_ why i’m here, I promise, pretty boy. You’ve got some bite under that cardigan, don’t you?” She said, winking. 

“Why are you here?” Jake asked. Lamia’s confidence wavered, uncertainty and a touch of nervousness playing across her features. She looked remarkably... human. She swallowed, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a white envelope.

“This came for me yesterday.” She said, holding it out. Jake and Ezekiel’s eyes widened, and Ezekiel slowly put his pistol back into his underarm holster. Jake cautiously stepped forward to take the envelope from her, removing the letter so he and Ezekiel could peer at it, inspecting its authenticity. 

“That looks pretty real, mate. Looks like history repeats itself.” Ezekiel declared. 

“What does that mean?” Lamia asked. 

“When your boy Dulaque cut the Loom of Fate, he fucked it up and time started unraveling, so Eve went hopping around in a bunch of alternate timelines.” Ezekiel explained matter of factly, walking forward until he was right in front of Lamia, looking her over as if he was sizing her up. “And in one of them, you were Cassandra’s Guardian. And now you’re here, what a coincidence!” Ezekiel slapped his hands together, turning to the older Librarian. In the meantime Lamia’s eyes widened as she attempted to wrap her head around the new information.

“There’s no arguing with Ray, right Jake?” Ezekiel asked. Jake grimaced, looking uncertain still. 

“I don’t know. She did try to kill us all and release magic and take over the world. Maybe we should wait till Jenkins gets back.” Jake said, rubbing the back of his neck, unsure of what to think of this development. 

“Oh, whatever, you know we don’t have a choice. She’s our new Guardian!” Ezekiel declared, turning to Lamia and winking. “Welcome to the team. It’s nice to finally have someone who isn’t a good two shoes around.” 

Lamia suddenly felt both relieved and nauseous. 

\--------------------

“As much as I disagree with the choice,” Jenkins said with a sigh, glaring at Lamia down the slope of his nose. She crossed her arms, glaring back. “There is no doubt about it. The Library has chosen her.”

“Well there you have it. Where’s my room?” Lamia asked. 

“We don’t have rooms, we all got apartments in Portland. Except Jenkins. We have no idea where he sleeps.” Jake said, jerking his thumb at the immortal. 

“Who’s to say he does?” Jenkins questioned. 

“Immortals sleep. Or at least, your father did.” Lamia replied casually. Jenkins grew still, eyes fixed on the device in his hands. Ezekiel blinked.

“Wait, what?” He asked, looking between Lamia and Jenkins. Jake slapped him on the arm.

“Lancelot is Galahad’s father, you idiot! How do you not know that?” Jake whispered in his ear, but the whole room could hear it. 

“Well, now that we’ve settled the issue of Miss Lamia, I must be getting back to my work!” Jenkins declared rather loudly, hurrying away. 

“Congrats, you chased the Grail Knight away. You’re already fitting in fine.” Ezekiel said to Lamia, while Jake rolled his eyes. Lamia looked Ezekiel up and down, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

“Cowboy and math girl are as easy to read as neon signs.” She stated. Jake blinked at that, and Ezekiel grinned in pride.

“I’m a little bit of a tougher nut to crack.” He boasted. Lamia cocked an eyebrow, looking entirely unimpressed. 

“No, I was going to say you’re somehow even _easier_ to read. I could read you from space, sweetheart.” Lamia said, voice dripping with condescending sympathy. Jake snorted, his face full of delight as he watched Ezekiel start to meltdown. 

“Wha - I - you - That’s not true!” Ezekiel exclaimed, crossing his arms. 

“Okay you two, put the claws away. You’re not off the hook yet, Lamia. You have a lot to make up for.” Jake said, stepping forward and giving Lamia a stern look. Lamia rolled her eyes to hide the tremble in her heart. 

“Whatever, Cowboy. So, what does this whole Guardian thing entail? And where is Cassandra?” Lamia asked, peering around for any trace of the redhead. Then she turned back to watch Jake and Ezekiel exchange a dread filled, somber look. Her heart suddenly stopped in her chest, and her eyes went wide.

“Oh god, she’s not dead, is she? Is she in the past too?” Lamia asked, voice far less controlled. She didn’t know why, but the idea of that strange girl being gone made the bottom of her gut drop out. 

“Oh, no, no! She’s fine. Mostly. She’s here, she’s just...not here.” Jake hurried to explain. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

\----------------------

“Been like that for a while.” Jake murmured. Lamia’s eyebrows furrowed as she slowly approached the mathematician. It was...unnerving, to say the least, to see the usually lively girl so...void. 

“The loss has taken it’s toll on her. I thought she would be stronger.” Lamia murmured. Ezekiel and Jake both bristled at her words.

“She _is_.” Jake said firmly. Lamia quirked her eyebrows, and turned away from the sorrowful sight. 

“So, back to this Guardian business. What are the perks?” 

\---------------------

Things are just as tense over the next few days. She gets an apartment under the name Chelsea Watts, above a bar. The kind of place that won’t ask questions. She’s on the run from so many people and organizations, she’s lost track. 

She finds herself back in the reading room a few days later. Cassandra is reading a different book, but nothing else has changed. That must mean she got up to get it. Such a strange state, she was in. But maybe she wasn’t as unaware as she was acting.

“I went on my first mission today.” Lamia announced, awkwardly standing in front of Cassandra. She didn’t know what she was expecting. What she got was just what everyone else got - nothing. She stood there for a few more minutes, unmoving, glaring down at Cassandra, watching her occasionally turn pages. Maybe if she stood here long enough, she could wait her out. 

After what felt like hours later, Lamia sighed, giving up. She collapsed into the beanbag next to Cassandra’s arm chair, groaning loudly as she rolled her neck. She looked over at Cassandra for a few more moments, waiting. 

In defeat, she eventually dragged herself to her feet and walked away, in search of the boys. Perhaps the cowboy would indulge her in going out and looking for a good bar fight together. 

\--------------

The next day she returned to the reading room, and crossed her arms as she stood directly in front of Cassandra, hovering over her and blocking her reading light. And still, she made no move to acknowledge Lamia’s presence. The more minutes that ticked by, the more angry Lamia got. Eventually, she snapped.

“I thought you were better than this! Running away inside of your head is no better than running away on foot, you coward!” Lamia finally exclaimed in frustration. She reached down, and ripped the book out of Cassandra’s hands. Cassandra blinked at the empty space in front of her, before she slowly moved her gaze up to look at Lamia. Lamia held her breath, waiting. Cassandra’s gaze was still distant, glazed, unfocused. And she was squinting, as if trying to see Lamia through a haze. Lamia narrowed her own eyes at that, and slowly set the book down. 

Acting on a hunch, Lamia slowly put her hand out, moving it closer and closer to Cassandra’s face. It wasn’t until it was a few inches away from her face that Cassandra’s eyes finally widened, and she flinched back, as if taken by surprise. Lamia pulled away, humming to herself.

“What is going on in that brain of yours, girl?” Lamia breathed. No response. She watched as Cassandra seemed to lose focus on trying to see her, and turned away. She picked up another book. This one was even bigger, but it didn’t look like nonfiction. As she opened it and returned to her now normal state, Lamia threw her hands in the air, turning and stalking away. 

Unbeknownst to her, however, Cassandra paused in her reading to look up again, hearing outside noise more clearly for the first time. Footsteps. Someone had been here. Someone she hadn’t seen in a long time. 

Cassandra slowly set the book aside, staring at the empty room in front of her, trying to push back against the haze she had previously embraced. This was important. Something was different, who had that been? Someone...familiar. 

\-----------------------

“What if she’s like that forever?” Lamia asked, scowling as she watched the thief enjoy his pizza and twiddle with his phone as if he didn’t have a care in the world. 

“Nah, she’ll be out of it any day now. The minute she wants to, she will. She can take care of herself, trust me. Something will register eventually.” Ezekiel assured her. Lamia huffed, looking at the table in the middle of the Annex, and all the strange books and instruments strewn across it. 

“If you become a statue for too long,” Lamia said bitterly. “You’re heart will turn to stone eventually.” 

“No one has a heart of stone.” Came a familiar that they all had been longing to hear. Ezekiel’s phone practically flew out of his hands as he jumped to his feet, face alight in relief and joy.

“Cassandra!” He exclaimed gleefully, causing her to flush slightly in embarrassment. Then Cassandra’s eyes shifted, to focus on Lamia in all seriousness. 

“Lamia? What are you doing here?” She asked, taking a step forward.

“She’s our new Guardian.” Ezekiel announced matter of factly. Lamia swallowed, and Cassandra’s eyes widened. Grief played across her features, and Lamia knew she was thinking of Baird. Then the grief faded, and fascination took it’s place.

“I always knew you had good in you!” Cassandra burst out finally, rushing forward to hug Lamia. Lamia stumbled back in surprise, going stiff as a board and staring down at the girl incredulously as she was squeezed. 

“Oh yeah, she’s back.” Ezekiel snorted.


End file.
